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Murderer - Ravenfolk [3.5e Race]

MurdererOrigin
In the Second Era the Divine of Nothing, Nihlus imbued a female raven with Divine Energy, this raven then gave birth to a creature that was humanoid but avain. The Murderers were her children. Once she birthed this race, the pain killed the mortal bird. This Raven, now known as Aves, ascended as the Divine of Birds.

Personality
Despite Murderers often being called "Bird Brains", they are actually quite intelligent. They are generally pessimists, expecting the worst out of every situation. They are seen as cold, as they don't care about the dead because of their Necromancer-dense culture.

They also have a knack for puzzles because of their swift thought pattern.

Physical Description
Murderers generally stand only 5 feet tall but their wings add slightly to their weight. Murderers actually have the physical traits of Newesti except for a few details.

Glorious wings strech from their bony arms. Their feathers are a blue so dark it appears black in all but direct sunlight. These feathers cover their bodies from head to ankle, except on their hands, feet, and on their faces. They have elven facial features, with the exception of their eye color. Their eyes are normally purple, blue, red, or black.

Contrary to rumour they do not have chicken-like legs. They have thin and lithe legs, similiar to those of elves.

Relations
Murderer's are seen as a bad omen in North Karmainian culture. And as such are rarely allowed to stay at inns. Newesti normally are curious of Murderer's, because of their similarities in appearance. In dwarven and durzite culture Murderer's are seen as creatures of myth, as dwarves rarely leave their underground homes. They get on well with Sarli as they are not only both shunned by Karmainian Culture, but also because they share their native land. They generally act indifferent to Kobolds seeing them as weak, but strange creatures.

Alignment
Murderer's are normally Neutral, in that they see no reason to be good or evil. They do what they do, and that is all they morals they need.

Lands
They live in the lands of Kratoa. The first known town of the murderer's was built into the side of the "Pits" at Everfall. That was decades before Karmainians even landed though so there was no Everfall to speak of in those times.

Religion
They worship Nihlus, The Balancer, and his children. The Murderers see the children of Nihlus as their siblings, because of their orgin myth. They also often worship their mother, Aves.

Language
They all speak speak Kratain and Trade Tongue. The Murderer's were the first to use Kratain and taught it to the Sarli. In their Kratain they are known as Shadki and Murderer is simply their name in Traders Tongue and Karmainian.

−2 Strength, +2 Intelligence. Murderer's are highly intelligent, but reletively weak as all the muscles are based around the wings.

Humanoid (Murderer)

Medium: As Medium creatures, Murderer's have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.

Murderer's base land speed is 30 feet.

Father's Gift: +1 caster level with all spell's with the death descriptor.

Flight: When a Murderer reaches 5 HD, he becomes able to fly at a speed of 40ft (Average Manoverability). A Murderer can't fly when they are carrying a medium or heavy load, or while exhausted or fatigued.

Murderer's can safely fly for a number of rounds equal to their constitution modifier (Minimum 1 round). They are fatigued if they spend more than 10 rounds per day in flying. Because Murderer's can glide before, after, and in-between rounds of flying, they can remain aloft for extended periods.

When a Murderer reaches 10 HD, they have enough stamina and prowess to fly for longer periods. They can fly at a speed of 40ft (Average Manoverability), and flying requires no more effort than walking.

Gliding: A Murderer can use his wings to glide, negating fall damage from a fall of any height and allowing 20ft of forward travel for every 5ft of descent. Murderer's glide at a speed of speed of 40ft of travel (average maneoverability). Even if a Murderer's manouverabiltity improves, she can't hover while gliding. A Murderer can't glide while carrying a medium or heavy load.

If a Murderer becomes unconscious while in mid-air, his wings naturally spread themselves and powerfull ligaments stiffen the wings. The Murderer then descendeds in a tight corkscrew and only takes 1d6 fall damage no matter the distance of the fall.

Low-Light Vision: Murderer's can see twice the distance of a Karmainian in Moon-light, or otherwise shadowy illumination.

Mother's Gift: A Murderer can talk with crows, and ravens as per the Speak with Animals spell.

Wing-Aided Movement: Murderer's can use their wings to help with movement even if they can't fly yet. They extra lift from their wings give a Murderer a +10 racial bonus on Jump checks.

Re: Murderer - Ravenfolk [3.5e Race]

The race works pretty well, reminds me a lot of Raptorans. -2 Strength and +2 Dexterity might work better for an Avian race. If you use Pathfinder, it could also have a +2 to Intelligence. The racial abilities work pretty well.

The name is a problem though. Murderer is a pretty common word, and not something you generally want to be called. It could get a little confusing.

Re: Murderer - Ravenfolk [3.5e Race]

Originally Posted by Chronologist

The race works pretty well, reminds me a lot of Raptorans. -2 Strength and +2 Dexterity might work better for an Avian race. If you use Pathfinder, it could also have a +2 to Intelligence. The racial abilities work pretty well.

The name is a problem though. Murderer is a pretty common word, and not something you generally want to be called. It could get a little confusing.

Which book are the Raptorans in?
And I was thinking about dexterity, but I wanted to make sure it has the +2 to intelligence.
Is +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Strength balanced?

As for the name, they personally don't use it and it was a name given by the human equivlent and other races started to call them it. In the language section it mentions this and what they call themselves.

EDIT: Also when playtesting this, there was no confusion between Murderers and a murderer.

Re: Murderer - Ravenfolk [3.5e Race]

-2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Int works if you play Pathfinder. For 3.5, choose Dex or Int. It seems like you want the race to have an Int bonus, so stick with that. However, remember that very, very few races in 3.5 have an Intelligence bonus without a level adjustment (Grey Elves have -2 Str, -2 Con, +2 Dex, +2 Int, and the Con penalty REALLY hurts).

I know that the race may colloquially be known as Murderer, but I think it's kind of odd. It's like if Rapist was a slang name for Orc, it's easily misinterpreted. Ravenfolk works a LOT better, or Shadki.

Re: Murderer - Ravenfolk [3.5e Race]

Originally Posted by Chronologist

-2 Str, +2 Dex, +2 Int works if you play Pathfinder. For 3.5, choose Dex or Int. It seems like you want the race to have an Int bonus, so stick with that. However, remember that very, very few races in 3.5 have an Intelligence bonus without a level adjustment (Grey Elves have -2 Str, -2 Con, +2 Dex, +2 Int, and the Con penalty REALLY hurts).

I know that the race may colloquially be known as Murderer, but I think it's kind of odd. It's like if Rapist was a slang name for Orc, it's easily misinterpreted. Ravenfolk works a LOT better, or Shadki.

Its not calling them all killers. Its because it is a murder of crows...

Also its not as much slang as translation. In kratian a group of crows in called a Shad, Shadki is based off that. Thus the Trader Tongune version is based off Murder.